White sorry for hitting Tiu, calls Almazan play ‘dirty’

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Malcolm White was at the start and end of the ugly confrontations between GlobalPort and Rain or Shine in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

In a game that saw three ejections, several technical fouls, and two players fouling out, White said he has no hard feelings toward the Elasto Painters.

“There are no hard feelings, also no hard feelings for the other team,” said White after the Batang Pier lost, 96-90.

White was on the offensive end first before becoming the recipient of an illegal hit in the final moments of the game when Raymond Almazan clocked him in the mouth with 40.3 seconds left in the game.

The GlobalPort import was the first to throw a swing, although he insisted it was inadvertent, that hit Rain or Shine’s Chris Tiu right in the mouth at the 6:54 mark of the fourth.

“I can see if I purposely did it on purpose but I didn’t do it on purpose,” said White, who finished with 21 points and eight rebounds before getting fouling out with 18 seconds left in the game.

White said he tried apologizing to Tiu but the Elasto Painters took it the other way and instead, the import stated, sent Almazan to retaliate.

“I told him sorry when I saw the blood, ‘Hey man, sorry I didn’t mean to do it, I didn’t know you were upon the basket,’” said White, who was attempting to box out when he hit Tiu.

“I guess the team (Rain or Shine), they took it some type of way and like I said they sent Raymond in. I jumped for the ball and he took his shoulder, busted my lip and hit me in the chin. That was dirty, I’m not a dirty player, I’m just a physical player, that’s it.”